For the first time ever we are seeing how much hospitals are charging for everyday procedures. The data show bills can differ depending on where you live.

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The federal government released the numbers Wednesday.

“The reason for that is the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services requires that the hospital that receives money from them will charge every patient the same dollar amount for every service,” said Mike Noble, spokesman at Fletcher-Allen Health Care in Burlington.

According to the data, Fletcher-Allen charges $10,380 for treatment for heart failure with no complications. At CVPH Medical Center, that same treatment costs $11,654. At Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, $12,369, and at Central Vermont Medical Center, $10,773.

Noble said a lot goes into factoring how much a hospital will charge for certain procedures. At Fletcher-Allen, they look at their budget, plus a doctor’s expertise and how many people are involved in a procedure and the tools they are using, just to name a few.Hospitals work out contracts with insurance providers and Medicare so the actual price paid is much lower, Noble said.

“They have their own formula, their own method for determining that,” he said. “They'll pay the hospital a certain amount.”

It works out so Medicare and insurance companies end up paying thousands of dollars less than the so-called sticker price.

“I think part of the high prices is like when you go to shop for clothes and they have some price and then they have the sale price,” said Sara Solnick, PhD.

Solnick is chair of the economics department the University of Vermont.

“The insurance companies are negotiating so the hospital has to start at a high price so the insurer feels like they got something,” she said.

Whether prices seem high or low, Noble said the costs at his hospitals versus other can never really be compared fairly.

“It really is apples and oranges,” he said. “Each hospital has made their own determination as to what items go into making that particular chart.”

Noble added hospitals, like Fletcher-Allen, also factor in discounts and provide charity services so the actual prices listed on their chart are rarely, if ever, charged.